The Woman in White
by Brambleshadow of WindClan
Summary: It's Halloween at NCIS, and the team is stumped by Abby's costume. So she decides to tell them a Southwestern legend about La Lorona, or "the Woman in White," as she's known up in Chicago.


**Summary: It's Halloween at NCIS, and the team is stumped by Abby's costume. So she decides to tell them a Southwestern legend about L_a Lorona, _("the Wailing Woman") or "the Woman in White," as she's known up in Chicago. (This one is actually inspired by what we're learning in Honors U.S. History, believe it or not.)**

**Reviews are appreciated, as you very well know by know.**

**FYI, the info for the legend was found on The Handbook of Texas Online. I did tweak it a little bit, though. And there are several different versions, so the one here might not be exactly like the one you know, if you've heard the legend.**

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><p>"The Woman in White"<p>

NCIS Special Agents Timothy McGee, Tony DiNozzo, and Ziva David entered Abby's lab to the sound of Michael Jackson singing "Thriller" and stopped dead in their tracks. Their mouths were open in identical stunned expressions as they took in the Goth's costume.

Abby whirled around. She wore her black hair down to her shoulders, her dog collar gone, for once, and had on a flowing white robe. She also had applied a light dusting of green over her skin, and Tony couldn't figure out what she was supposed to be. He said as much. "Uh, Abby, what are you supposed to be?"

"_La Llorona, _of course," she replied. When the others still looked blank, she added, "You know, the Wailing Woman or the Woman in White?"

Still no response. So she sighed. "Wow, didn't you guys learn _anything _in U.S. History?"

Tony shrugged. "I slept through most of my classes."

Ziva threw her hands up in the air. "I'm not even from _los Estados Unidos, _Abby."

"I did," said Tim, "but we never studied that. Is it a Southwestern legend?"

The Gothic forensic scientist grinned, giving her face an eerie look. Tony, Ziva, and Tim had to suppress shudders. "Yep. Looks like I'm gonna have to tell you the legend."

"Oh, goodie," Tony muttered sarcastically.

Abby frowned at him. "Shut up, DiNozzo. Anyway, there are loads of variations, but the basic story goes something like this:

_Some years ago, a young hidalgo fell in__ love with a lowly girl, named María, who over a period of time bore him two or three children. She had a _casita_—a little house—where the young man visited and brought his friends, and in almost every way they shared a happy life together, except that their union was not blessed by the church. His parents, of course, knew nothing of the arrangement and would not have allowed him to marry beneath his station. They urged him to marry a suitable lady and give them grandchildren. Finally he gave in, and sadly he told María that he must marry another. But he would not desert her, he promised - he would still take care of her and the children and visit them as often as he could. Enraged, she drove him away, and when the wedding took place she stood veiled in her shawl at the back of the church. Once the ceremony was over she went home, and in a crazed state killed the children, threw them into a nearby body of water, and then drowned herself. But when her soul applied for admission to heaven, _el Señor_ refused her entry. "Where are your children?" He asked her. Ashamed, she confessed she did not know. "Go and bring them here," the Lord said. "You cannot rest until they are found." And ever since, La Llorona wanders along streams at night, weeping and crying for her children—"_Ay, mis hijos_!__"_

"Creepy," McGee summed it up.

Tony asked, "Uh, what's _'Ay, mis hijos' _mean?"

"And is there anything else?" Ziva added.

Abby replied, "It means 'Oh, my children!' According to some, she has been known to take revenge on men she comes across in her journey. She usually dresses in black. Her face is sometimes that of a horse, but more often horribly blank, and her long fingernails gleam like polished tin in the moonlight. La Llorona also preys on young children wandering the river at night, and is actually historically linked to La Malinche, Hernán Cortés's translator." She continued on in this vein for another minute or so, ignoring the fact that McGee looked green. When she stopped, he said, "It's amazing how you know all this, Abby."

"Well, I heard it when I went down to Mexico last year. And it interested me, so I did some extra research."

"Why am I not surprised?" Ziva muttered.

The Goth ignored that. "Any more questions?"

"NO!" the trio said, Tony and Ziva turning and fleeing the premises. McGee was the only one left, and he was not looking good. It was Halloween and all, but still.

"You okay, Timmy?"

"Uh, I think I'm gonna go get a Nutter-Butter," he stammered out, heading for the elevator. He called, "Hey, guys, wait up!"

Behind him, Abby smirked. Vincent Price was beginning the rap in "Thriller," and she mouthed along. The evil laugh at the end was echoed by a cackle that turned into an eerie wailing. The Goth started to look nervous and bolted, following the others.

Outside the window, a lone woman shrouded in black with dark hair, olive-colored skin, and pale eyes lurked, letting out a last cry of "_Ay, mis hijos_!" before fading away in a sudden gust of wind. The sound carried long after her body had vanished, trailing on the breeze.


End file.
